


So, Smile!

by premeditated



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Depression, Fluff, Gen, Mental Illness, basically naegi is sad and everyone loves him a whole lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5764924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/premeditated/pseuds/premeditated
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I love you so much I don't know whether to laugh or cry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So, Smile!

**Author's Note:**

> depressed!naegi was hard to write but he's really, really important to me. please treat him kindly.
> 
> on that note, this is really self-indulgent. dedicated to my sister, for whom i have started writing like twenty different fics but somehow i wind up only having this one to show for myself.

**Enoshima-san (2 days ago)  
** hey were all getting 2gether at mine 2night, b there or b square!!!!!!

 **Maizono-san (2 days ago)  
** pleeeeease come to the party!! i feel like i haven’t seen you in ages.

 **Kuwata-kun (2 days ago)  
** do u need a ride to junko’s?

 **Kuwata-kun (2 days ago)  
** naegi??

 **Kuwata-kun (2 days ago)  
** naegi??

 **Kuwata-kun (2 days ago)  
** pls respond

 **Ishimaru-kun (2 days ago)  
** It has come to my attention that you have not yet RSVP’d to Enoshima-kun’s invitation. While this is certainl…

 **Kirigiri-san (2 days ago)  
** What happened?

 **Hagakure-kun (2 days ago)  
** You feeling alright?

 **Ikusaba-san (1 day ago)  
** We missed you yesterday

 **Asahina-san (1 day ago)  
** we’re worried sick about you :( <3

 **Enoshima-san (1 day ago)  
** </3 </3 </3

 **Maizono-san (1 day ago)  
** i still want to see you. :(

 **Oowada-kun (23 hours ago)  
** Sup

 **Fujisaki-kun (21 hours ago)  
** Naegi-kun? Are you okay?

 **Celes-san (21 hours ago)  
** You’re causing quite the commotion.

 **Kirigiri-san (18 hours ago)  
** Naegi-kun?

 **Fukawa-san (12 hours ago)  
** What could you be doing all by yourself for this long?

 **Fukawa-san (12 hours ago)  
** Ah, no, on second thought, don’t tell me

 **Ikusaba-san (5 hours ago)  
** Hey

 **Yamada-kun (3 hours ago)  
** Naegi Makoto-dono, please respond posthaste.

 **Togami-kun (2 hours ago)  
** Naegi.

 **Asahina-san (43 minutes ago)  
** i swear i'll kick down your door if you don’t text someone soon!

 **Oogami-san (36 minutes ago)  
** Asahina will not be kicking down your door

 **Oogami-san (35 minutes ago)  
** We will both check on you if this continues, however

 **Enoshima-san (18 minutes ago)  
** ill bet even togamis texted you by now

Naegi squinted blearily at his phone. He stared at the growing flurry of messages, scrolling down and up and down again as though something might have changed in the last few moments. After several useless seconds had passed like this, he let the hand holding his phone drop back onto the mattress. He didn’t move, blinking at the wall of his dorm room behind where the screen had just been.

“I should respond…” he mumbled to himself.

He couldn’t really bring himself to do that, though, as much as he felt like he needed to, so instead he just pulled up the group chat and sent out a quick, “ _Anyone up for breakfast at Allie’s?_ ”

His phone lit up with new notifications almost instantly and he found himself letting out a quiet little sigh. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to banish the tiredness from his limbs, but of course it didn’t work.

It was another minute or two before he worked up the motivation to roll out of bed, glancing at the clock on his nightstand as he did so. Almost noon. So it wasn’t really going to be breakfast, then.

He’d woken up much later before, though, so he wasn’t complaining. He just trudged his way over to his wardrobe in the far corner of the room, dodging clutter as he did so. He realized idly that the mess had gotten kind of out of hand, but he didn’t have time to do anything about it now.

Naegi lived in one of the few singles offered in the sophomore dorm, and he’d be the first to admit that he didn’t take care of it very well. When he’d filled out his form, he’d put that he didn’t care either way about if he got a roommate or not. His friends all said it was an incredible stroke of luck to end up here without even really asking for it, but the more time Naegi spent totally on his own, the less he was sure he’d call himself “lucky.”

He realized he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, jeans and all, so getting changed wound up being a huge hassle. He kind of tried to fix his hair when he was done, but it was still a mess and brushing it some more wasn’t going to make him look less tired, anyway. Sighing, he just pulled on his coat and made sure his wallet was in the pocket instead of trying to mess with his appearance further.

Ten minutes after he’d sent the message, he was just about ready to leave, but he found himself pausing with his hand on the doorknob. Here he was, on his way to spend time with his favorite people in the whole world, something _he’d_ suggested they do, and he was seriously entertaining the thought of just turning around and crawling right back under the covers.

It wasn’t like he wanted to avoid them, but…it wasn’t really fair to them if his heart wasn’t in it, was it? They were his _best friends_. They deserved a Naegi who wasn’t exhausted and sad and too caught up in everything to cherish their time together. Right? They deserved the absolute best. And that wasn’t…well, it wouldn’t ever really be him, not like this.

Without even realizing it, he’d taken a few steps back into his dorm. The thought of getting back into bed made his stomach churn viciously with guilt, but actually going to the café was enough to have his shoulders slumping. Wasn’t there _anything_ he could do that would feel right?

 **Asahina-san (9 minutes ago)**  
ABSOLUTELY SEE YOU THEEE

 **Asahina-san (9 minutes ago)  
** THERE

 **Asahina-san (9 minutes ago)**  
!!!!!!!!

 **Ishimaru-kun (7 minutes ago)**  
Affirmative.

 **Maizono-san (6 minutes ago)**  
ah, me too!!

 **Maizono-san (now)**  
chin up, naegi-kun.  <3

Naegi let out a deep, shuttering breath as he stared at the screen of his phone.

“I can do this,” he whispered. “I can _try_.”

At the very least, he could keep a promise like that.

* * *

The walk to Allie’s from his dorm was only about ten minutes. It passed in a blur of bright sunlight and piercingly cold wind, so by the time he was rounding the final corner his whole face felt a bit numb. He was trying to muster up the resolve to expose his bare hands to the chill so he could open the door, but as it turned out, he didn’t have to.

He stumbled forward as someone slammed into his back, wrapping a pair of strong arms around his waist.

“Naegi!” Asahina all but yelled in his ear. “It’s really you, and you’re not dead! We’ve all been _so_ worried about you!”

Naegi let out a vague wheezing sound as Asahina tightened her hug like she never wanted to let go.

“I feel like you do this every other week, but it still scares me half to death!” she was saying. “And if you think _I_ take it badly, you should’ve seen Ikusaba-chan—”

“Asahina-san, please hold on for a moment.”

Asahina released her hold on Naegi and took a step back, allowing him a chance to continue breathing. He turned around, coughing, to find her smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of her neck while Maizono stood beside her, peering at Naegi with a worried expression on her face.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Naegi said. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Asahina shook her head, but Maizono only looked more troubled by his answer.

“Don’t apologize, Naegi-kun,” the idol said sternly. “If you say something like that too much, it loses its meaning.”

“I guess…you may be right,” Naegi said.

He couldn’t really stop himself from saying sorry, though, since it was his fault that his friends were so upset. She was right that he said it too much, but that was only because he worried them too often by completely falling off the radar for days at a time. How else was he supposed to make sure they knew he was trying his best?

“We know you’re trying,” Maizono said, her tone suddenly much softer.

Naegi blinked in surprise. No matter how many times she voiced exactly what he was thinking, he’d never get used to it.

“Yeah, that’s not how I meant it at all!” Asahina added. “I know you’re not doing it on purpose, Naegi, I just want to make sure you don’t forget how much we care about you.”

“Of course I wouldn’t forget,” Naegi said, smiling warmly.

The girls returned his smile without hesitation, and then Maizono was linking her arm with Naegi’s.

“Let’s get inside, already!” She giggled, tapping Naegi on the tip of his nose. “Your whole face is bright red. From the cold.”

Asahina bounded forward so that she could hold the door open. “Your ears, too. You forgot your scarf again, huh?”

“I guess I did,” Naegi said as they entered the coffee shop. “And my gloves.”

He didn’t mind much, though, because soon enough he was flooded with that particular burst of warmth he always got when he set foot in this café. It was where he worked (although not today, obviously) and also where he’d met a lot of his friends. It seemed pretty empty for a Sunday afternoon, but there was one booth already filled to capacity.

Asahina didn’t even give him a second to catch his breath before she was grabbing his free arm and pulling him (and by extension Maizono) towards the table, calling out, “Guys, Naegi’s here!”

Naegi found himself immediately face-to-chest with a blubbering Hagakure, who was crushing him in an enormous bear hug.

“Don’t scare me like that, Naegi-chi!” he wailed.

“But—” Naegi protested, his voice coming out muffled, “—this isn’t the first time I’ve missed a party…”

“Yeah, but the _cards_ , man—”

“Hagakure-kun, cease your attempts to crush Naegi-kun at once!”

Naegi never thought he could be so happy to hear Ishimaru barking orders at someone. Hagakure reluctantly put him down, opting to settle his hands on Naegi’s shoulders and scan his face instead.

“You sure you’re okay, Naegi-chi?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m _okay_ ,” he mumbled, looking down at his shoes. “But like Asahina-san said, I’m here.”

“And that will do just fine!” Ishimaru declared, clapping Naegi on the back so hard that he stumbled right back into Hagakure. “As long as all soldiers are present and accounted for, we can sort out the rest of the details later.”

Naegi smiled gratefully. “Thanks, guys.”

“Alright!” Maizono clapped her hands together. “Asahina-san, help me move this table over so we can all sit together.”

“Oh, let me—”

“Absolutely not!” Ishimaru interrupted, taking Naegi by the hand and leading him to the seat he had been occupying moments ago. He pushed down on his shoulders so that he sank right into it. “Please sit down and decide on your order. I will assist Maizono-kun and Asahina-kun instead.”

Naegi frowned a bit. Ishimaru always tended to do this when he’d a bad couple of days, acting as though he were fragile and in need of doting. It was touching, but also kind of disheartening at the same time.

“S-so you finally decided t-t-to show up.”

Fukawa’s low hiss directed him back to the situation at hand. She sat across from him, beside a stoic Kirigiri, while Togami was sipping coffee and leafing through a book to his left.

He might’ve been offended by her words if he didn’t know her better, but he could see the way she was curled in on herself, twisting her hands together in her lap as her eyes darted every which way, lighting on Naegi for the briefest of moments until she saw that he was looking back at her.

He smiled a bit. “Yeah. Sorry if I worried you, Fukawa-san.”

Fukawa clutched at her chest as though she were suddenly at a loss for air. “Don’t _f-flatter_ yourself.”

“Okay,” Naegi said, his grin only widening.

Fukawa looked dismayed, her glasses now knocked askew.

“You should r-really say sorry to those two,” she added, pointing hastily at both Kirigiri and Togami. “Don’t bother with…m-me.”

Naegi glanced over at Kirigiri, who offered him a faint shrug.

“I want no such apology.”

“Nor do I,” Togami said without looking up from his reading. “Don’t put your disgusting words in my mouth.”

“Um, Togami-kun,” Naegi interrupted before Fukawa had a chance to respond, “thanks for coming, too.”

Togami glanced up and stared at Naegi for a moment, then returned to his book. “I always drink this atrocious coffee here on Sunday afternoons. Think nothing of it.”

“Right, I won’t,” Naegi said, beaming.

“There!” Ishimaru declared suddenly, standing up straight to inspect their work. They’d successfully moved over another large table and brought all of its chairs as well. “Two tables should be enough for all of us. Have you decided on an order, yet, Naegi-kun?”

Naegi scrambled to think of something. “Oh, I—”

“Yes, and I have as well.” Kirigiri rose and crossed her arms, holding Naegi’s gaze from across the table. “Let’s order together, Naegi-kun.”

Naegi blinked up at her for a moment, then hopped out of his seat as well. “Alright, Kirigiri-san.”

They walked up to the counter together as everyone else settled back down at the table (although “settled” was a relative term, considering how loud they were being). Kirigiri stopped right next to him, so close that their shoulders were brushing, as she offered the sleepy-looking girl behind the counter a very small but genuine smile.

“Hello, Nanami-san,” she said, dipping her head slightly in greeting.

“G’morning, Kirigiri-san,” the girl replied through a yawn. Then she paused, frowning. “…Or is it the afternoon yet?”

“How long have you been working today?” Naegi asked, a little amused.

“Since eight,” she said, “…I think.”

She looked at Naegi for a while, tapping her chin as though she was choosing her next words very carefully.

“…I haven’t seen you around lately, Naegi-kun. Everything okay?”

Naegi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He always knew people were going to ask him that, but he still didn’t have a good answer. Kirigiri’s gaze piercing through the side of his head didn’t help much, either.

“I’m fine,” he settled on eventually.

Nanami just stared at him, so intently that he started shifting his weight from foot to foot. After several seconds passed like that, he started to brace himself for whatever heavy and important thing she was about to—

“What kind of coffee do you want?”

Naegi let out a breathy laugh. “Um, my usual, I guess.”

Nanami nodded, then glanced at Kirigiri.

“Surprise me,” she said evenly, to which the barista nodded once more.

“Okay,” Nanami said, “it’ll just be a few minutes.”

Naegi looked confused. “Wait, don’t we have to pay f—”

“Hey, let me pay for you, Naegi-chi!”

Hagakure jumped out of his chair and came bounding up to the counter. He ruffled Naegi’s hair violently and gave Nanami a broad grin, offering only, “I owe him one. Or maybe more like six,” by way of explanation.

“Hagakure-kun, you don’t have to do that,” Naegi began.

“Sure I do!” Hagakure waved him off, turning back to Nanami. “How much is it?”

Nanami just blinked at him. “…It’s on the house.”

“What?”

“Aw, man…”

Nanami turned and flashed a dumbfounded Naegi one of her rare smiles. “You look like you could use it. Probably.”

Naegi was simultaneously very touched and very concerned that his appearance was more disheveled than he’d initially believed it to be. Either way, Nanami didn’t stay to discuss the matter further, disappearing behind the coffee machines to get started on their order.

“I’m sorry, Naegi-chi,” Hagakure said dejectedly, sagging against him. “You always pay for me when I forget my wallet, so…”

“Th-that’s okay, Hagakure-kun,” Naegi spluttered, trying not to stagger to the side now that Hagakure was leaning on him. “There’s always next time, right?”

Hagakure brightened up a bit at that. “Yeah, if you say so,” he said. Then, glancing over at Kirigiri, he promptly straightened up and started back towards the table. “Anyway, sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s fine, really,” Naegi reassured him, rubbing his eyes a bit.

He would’ve been more insistent, but he just didn’t have the energy for it. One more thing to add to the ever-growing list, it seemed.

This was what he’d been worried about, he thought as he examined the scuff marks on his shoes. He knew no one noticed it, but he felt like some sort of weird non-presence all the time, even when everyone was trying extra hard to include him in everything. He just stood there and let things happen around him.

“Tired?”

He glanced up to find Kirigiri raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah,” he sighed, allowing his shoulders to slump ever so slightly. “Just a bit.”

Her shoulder brushed against his so lightly that he couldn’t be sure if she’d done it on purpose.

“Too much sleep?” she asked. “Or not enough?”

“The first one,” Naegi sighed, “definitely the first one.”

“I assumed as much when you invited us to breakfast at noon.”

“I can’t believe so many of you were free,” he laughed, shaking his head.

Kirigiri stared at him for a moment before her gaze swept back across the chalkboard menu above them. “I wasn’t free.”

“Huh?”

“I wasn’t free,” she repeated. “I was having lunch with my roommate.”

Naegi’s face felt hot suddenly. “But…then you shouldn’t have—”

“Hey, your coffee’s done.”

Nanami set two steaming cups down on the counter, tilting her head to the side as she did so.

“Oh…Am I interrupting you?” she asked.

“Only a bit,” Kirigiri said as she picked up her drink. “Thank you, Nanami-san.”

“Ah, yes, thank you,” Naegi echoed, bowing hurriedly as he reached for his own coffee. He turned around to find Kirigiri already heading back to the table, clearly holding no intention of continuing their conversation. “Kirigiri-san, hold on, you didn’t need to cancel your plans for me!”

She stopped to glance over her shoulder, and Naegi was momentarily relieved that they weren’t done talking about it. But as it turned out, she hadn’t looked back because she had something else to say. Instead, she just grabbed Naegi’s free hand in a light grip, turned around once more, and led them both back to their waiting friends.

The rest of Naegi’s protests died in his throat, replaced by a comfortable swelling feeling in his chest. He gave Kirigiri’s hand a squeeze as his words failed him, and she responded by twining their fingers together.

In the time it had taken them to place their order, more of their friends had joined them. Celes now sat where Naegi had been before with Leon to her right, while Yamada had claimed Kirigiri’s seat and Sakura was pulling up a chair beside Asahina.

“Naegi, good to see ya up and about!”

Leon was the first to notice his return, grinning broadly at him as he settled into a new seat with Kirigiri by his side.

“Perfect timing, too,” he continued before Naegi got the chance to respond. “Tell Asahina that chicks totally dig rock stars.”

Naegi blinked. “Um—”

“I didn’t _say_ that wasn’t true for some people,” Asahina huffed, “just that _you_ aren’t a rock star.”

“Which means you have no freakin’ clue what you’re saying!” Leon exclaimed. “You don’t even like guys, anyway, what would you know?”

Asahina puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, shooting him a pointed look. “Being a lesbian doesn’t stop straight guys from hitting on me, trust me.”

Leon made a face like someone had just poked him between the eyes.

“Oh, my,” Celes said, “that was quite the ‘burn,’ if you will.”

“Some girls do like a punk kind of image,” Maizono chimed in, smiling kindly at Leon. “And you definitely come across that way.”

Leon was beaming. “See! And Maizono likes guys.”

“Does she?” Sakura asked.

All eyes turned to Maizono, but instead of answering, she just giggled, covering her mouth with a hand to muffle the sound.

“Kuwata-kun, it would behoove you not to assume such things about your friends,” Ishimaru said, shaking his head.

“Ouch, dude,” Hagakure added helpfully.

Leon looked so put out that Naegi was about to lean over and whisper not take it too hard. Before he could, though, he caught Maizono shooting the poor guy a wink that had his face going redder than his hair, and he decided that maybe he didn’t need to.

“Naegi.” Sakura interrupted his train of thought with her quiet but sturdy voice. “Your coffee might get too cold to consume should you wait any longer.”

Naegi smiled, waving a hand. “That’s okay. I didn’t really want it that much in the first place.”

Sakura crossed her arms, a serious expression on her face.

“The warmth in that drink will give you strength,” she said. “It is important not to think lightly of your own physical wellbeing.”

Naegi reddened a bit at that. “Well…I wasn’t really trying to do that, but…”

“Regardless, you should worry more about taking care of yourself,” Sakura said in a quieter voice.

“I’ll do my best, Oogami-san,” Naegi promised.

That seemed to satisfy her, but only after Naegi had taken a sip or two from the cup in front of him.

“I hope everything is to your satisfaction, Naegi-kun,” Ishimaru said, coming across like a waiter rather than a friend seated across from him.

Naegi nodded, smiling fondly. “Of course, Ishimaru-kun.”

“And you would tell us if something was not up to your standards, would you not?” Yamada asked, pointing at Naegi as he addressed him.

He hummed an affirmative response, still working on his coffee.

“Naegi-kun, that was a very serious request.”

He swallowed quickly so that he could fix Celes with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Please speak up if something is bothering you,” she said with a little smile. “Effective communication is at the very foundation of human interaction, is it not?”

“I…suppose it is,” Naegi said slowly.

“So _please_ let us know if something upsets you.” Celes laced her finger together underneath her chin. “Anything at all.”

Naegi was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about whether or not his coffee tasted okay anymore. “Well, I—”

“Wh-wh-what’s going on?”

He was cut off by Fukawa’s low voice. Confused, he looked at her only to find that she was making an odd face at something over his shoulder. So he swiveled around in his seat to face the door and saw—

“Ikusaba Mukuro-dono!” Yamada exclaimed.

Her appearance alone wasn’t the strange part. She was leaning against the doorway, clutching her side as she practically coughed up a lung heaving for breath. Her whole face was flushed red from the cold, her hair was mussed from the wind, and all in all, it looked like she’d just run a _marathon_.

Naegi was already getting up out of his chair. “Ikusaba-san—?”

She held up a hand to signal that he should stay where he was, which Naegi had half a mind to ignore, but she was straightening up soon enough.

“Are you okay?” he asked as she made her way over to the table.

“I’m okay,” she said in a raspy voice. Her throat must have been scratchy from being outside.

“What did you do, _run_ here?” Togami asked in a bored sort of way, but Naegi noted that he’d shut his book.

“Yes.”

“Even though the dorms are just a pleasant stroll away?” Celes questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t at the dorms,” Mukuro said matter-of-factly as she settled tentatively into the open seat between Naegi and Leon.

Everyone waited for her to elaborate, but when she hadn’t after several seconds, Naegi cleared his throat.

“Then, ah…where were you?”

Mukuro glanced briefly at him. “I drove Junko-chan to a photoshoot.”

Kirigiri stared at her for a moment, her gaze flicking momentarily to Naegi as well before she addressed her.

“Isn’t Enoshima-san’s studio on the other side of town?”

“Yes,” Mukuro said blankly.

The table positively erupted into a dismayed clamor.

“The other side of town, you say?” Yamada echoed, looking a bit dizzy just discussing the prospect. “…Preposterous!”

“Ikusaba-chan, that’s too far, even for you!” Asahina said, but she sounded a little bit awestruck. “You could’ve gotten hurt.”

“It’s crazy!” Leon agreed. “ _Crazy_!”

“No wonder you were so out of breath,” Maizono fretted, eyebrows drawn together in worry.

“Foolish,” was all Togami had to say.

Mukuro just blinked rapidly as this torrent of concerns crashed over her. Her face stayed blank, and she didn’t move, either, and it looked to Naegi like she didn’t really care if what she’d done was dangerous.

Once the conversation had moved on from her, he reached over under the table and grabbed her hand where it was resting in her lap.

Her head immediately snapped to the side, grey eyes piercing even as Naegi gave her a smile.

“We could’ve hung out later, you know,” he whispered.

The way her face flashed with a split second of doubt kind of made his heart drop.

“I mean,” he mumbled, gaze trained on his lap, “unless I have another depressive episode, that is.”

“No!” she all but yelped, grip tightening around Naegi’s fingers so hard it was almost painful.

Naegi noticed some of their friends looking their way, startled by her outburst, but Mukuro either didn’t see or didn’t care. She kept her eyes trained on Naegi as she continued in a quieter voice.

“…I just really felt like I should come.”

Her cheeks, which had just started to return to their normal color, seemed to get red all over again. She looked like she was holding her breath, waiting for what he was going to say.

Of course it was hard to feel bad when she was making a face like that.

“Well, I’m glad you made it, even if you ran here,” he said.

Mukuro visibly relaxed, sitting back in her seat and running a hand through her hair (although that really didn’t do much to fix it).

“I am, too,” she said with the smallest of smiles.

Naegi’s grin was back full force, and he was going to thank her for it when he suddenly felt Kirigiri leaning over his shoulder on his other side.

“Thank you, Ikusaba-san,” she said.

Naegi looked between them in confusion, neck straining as he turned his head from side to side. “Wait, why?”

Neither of them answered him. Mukuro was watching Kirigiri, the smile on her face reserved for the other girl this time.

“You too, Kirigiri-san,” she said, and now Kirigiri was smiling as well.

They shared the moment for a second or two longer before they both turned back to Naegi.

“When do you want to hang out again, Naegi-kun?” asked Mukuro.

“Um,” Naegi spluttered, not following what had just happened _at all_ , “huh?”

“You already proposed meeting up later to Ikusaba-san,” Kirigiri pointed out sternly, “so you must be free at some point.”

“Well, I’m kind of always free,” Naegi said sheepishly. “But I don’t know if I’ll be up for much soon besides…well, anything, actually.”

“We don’t have to do anything,” Kirigiri promised.

“I’m not good at talking anyway,” Mukuro offered.

He didn’t know if even that was a good idea. Sometimes doing nothing in the presence of other people was pretty comforting, but other times, even that felt like too much. He never knew which days were going to be the worst ones, though, and he was really, really touched that they were willing to sit around with absolutely nothing to do just because they didn’t want him to feel lonely.

“Next week, then,” he said eventually.

Mukuro squeezed his hand while Kirigiri hummed in satisfaction, and he felt like he’d made the right choice.

“Hey, are you making plans to see Naegi-kun again?” Maizono suddenly cut in, leaning across the table. “What about me?”

Naegi made a surprised face. “Oh, well, we can probably—”

“Me, too, man!” Leon added. “I’ve been dying to hang out with you lately, it sucks. Don’t leave me hanging.”

“I suppose I would like to be added to the list as well,” Celes said idly, twirling one of her pigtails around her fingers.

Naegi was starting to feel pretty overwhelmed by the amount of people who wanted to spend time with him, but he didn’t think it would be very fair to say yes to Kirigiri and Mukuro and then no to everyone else.

“Stop preying on him like vultures,” Togami said coldly, fixing the rest of the group with a glare. “It’s painful to watch.”

“If he w-wanted to hang out with y-you, he’d _say_ so,” Fukawa added.

That wasn’t quite how Naegi would’ve put it, but he was extremely grateful nonetheless. He mouthed a sincere _thank you_ to both of them, to which Togami inclined his head slightly and Fukawa immediately whipped her head away, blushing furiously.

“Is someone pickin’ on Naegi?” a deep voice bellowed from the doorway. “You’ll have to get through me first!”

Naegi turned around yet again to find Mondo standing in the doorway, cracking his knuckles.

Chihiro poked his head out from behind him, wearing a troubled expression.

“Um, Oowada-kun, I don’t think that’s—”

“Me, too!” Junko piped up, suddenly popping out from behind the both of them and settling into a bastardized version of a boxing stance. “I’ll fight _anyone_ for Naegi’s sake!”

“Junko-chan?!” Mukuro said, clearly startled.

“Oh, sis, you actually ran all the way here?” Junko asked, eyebrows disappearing into her bangs. “Jeez, you know I was _joking_ when I said I’d never forgive you if you abandoned me without the car, right?”

The look on Mukuro’s face clearly said that no, she did not know that.

Naegi’s attention was drawn away from the rest of their conversation by a hand settling lightly on his shoulder. He looked up at a worried Chihiro who was biting his lip and staring at Naegi like he wasn’t sure if he was real or not.

“How are you, Naegi-kun?” he asked softly, keeping his hand where it was as though to reassure himself that Naegi wasn’t going anywhere.

Naegi reached up and place his hand over Chihiro’s, hoping he didn’t look as tired as he felt.

“Good,” he answered truthfully. “Pretty good.”

Chihiro’s face lit up until he was smiling so hard that his eyes made little crescents. “Ah, I’m so glad to hear that! You really had me worried, Naegi-kun.”

“Yeah, try not to do this kinda thing as much.” Mondo had come to stand beside them as well, putting one of his hands on Chihiro’s shoulder and the other on Naegi’s head. “Y’know, for this kid’s sake. It’s hard to watch him so torn up about something.”

Chihiro tilted his head to the side in confusion. “But, Oowada-kun was even more upset than me—”

Mondo made a strangled noise as his face turned bright red. Naegi positively beamed up at him, which just had him looking off to the side.

“…Be more careful, Naegi,” he grunted.

“I’ll try to,” Naegi assured him, still smiling.

Mondo looked back down again, staring at him for a few seconds. Then he proceeded to ruffle Naegi’s hair so hard that he must have looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.

Chihiro laughed at the sight, and Naegi thought it was probably worth having his hair so messed up.

“What a heart-warming scene,” Junko cooed, reaching over from where she’d pulled up a seat beside Mukuro to pinch Naegi’s cheek. “We love you, Naegi.”

Naegi’s face flushed spectacularly. The model’s voice was devoid of its usual playful tone when she said that last bit, a rare expression of genuineness on her part. The smile she gave him was the real deal, too, and it made him feel, well, _warm and fuzzy_ , as cliché as that sounded.

“That’s right, Naegi,” Asahina said, “we’ve got your back! Alright?”

“All of us,” Sakura agreed. “We stand by you.”

“And most of us are even capable of leaving you to rest when you wish it,” Celes added with a smile that held none of its trademark sharpness.

“Just…try to let us know, if you can,” Chihiro said. “That way we’ll understand a little better, at least.”

“Please.” Hagakure leaned over like he was going to let them all in on a huge secret. “I can’t predict _everything_ in my crystal ball, you know.”

Everyone laughed at that, somehow. Naegi took a look around the table at all of his friends’ smiling faces, and even though he was smiling, too, he felt a little sting at the corners of his eyes.

“I love you guys.”


End file.
